In honor of the new covers of the OLD Ruby Oliver books -- The Boyfriend List, The Boy Book, and The Treasure Map of Boys -- and to SPREAD THE WORD about how you should all read all three novels NOW so that you are ready for Real Live Boyfriends when it comes out Dec 28, 2010 -- I am having a contest!

It is super easy to enter.

Write a SHORTY SHORT SHORT (hopefully witty, cringe-worthy or vitriolic) sentence or two about the most embarrassing or confusing moment you ever had with a member of whatever sex you are attracted to. Then post it, with or without explanation, on your Facebook, twitter, blog, formspring, or whatever.

If you're on Twitter, tag is #RubyOliverBooks. (And I am at twitter.com/elockhart)Please keep it PG-13. People will read this who haven't made it through the mocha latte yet, as Roo would say. :)

Then ALSO POST YOUR ENTRY HERE in the comments with a link, if possible, back to where you posted it. You have to post it here, too, or we (me and my fab assistant Tricia) won't find it!

For example (and this is a true story, peeps, that I later appropriated for fictional purposes in The Boyfriend List):

Age 16. Went to see Tarzan: Legend of Greystoke and let boyfriend feel left boob for two hours. #RubyOliverBooks

or

Valentine's Day. Boyfriend put used office phone swiped from work under my pillow for a gift. #RubyOliverBooks

There will be ten winners (as long as ten people care enough to enter!) and the prize is a signed, personalized hardcover copy of Dramarama, plus foxy Real Live Boyfriends bookmark. Dramarama is the book of mine you probably haven't read -- am I right? And it is like, THE BEST ONE, I THINK.

And if you've read Dramarama and you really want a different book, you can have that instead. It just will probably be a paperback. I haven't got any Real Live Boyfriends, though -- so dream on in that department.

In other news, my website has been infected with horrible MALWARE for like six months which means that you can easily visit it by clicking on a link to it, but if you search any search engine you get an ad for viagra instead of my site. Ag. And more Ag.

This is apparently not a fixable thing and my site will be moving soon to a non-viagra environment. But all that got delayed, including the site update for my SPANKIN' NEW PAPERBACKS of all three Ruby books -- and that means that I have nowhere but my blog to give you the scoop. Soon I will be able to post preview chapters of Roo4, aka Real Live Boyfriends, which comes out in December.

Also: I'm having a contest! Details up in the next couple days -- but it will be easy to enter, there will be lots of winners, and it will help spread the word about the new paperbacks. So check back and enter to win a signed hardcover of Dramarama!

So I had no AC in my home when the temp here in NYC reached 104 degrees the other day. I literally SLEPT WITH FROZEN FOOD. Here are some tips if you ever find yourself in the same situation:

Edamame are good. They are none the worse for being defrosted and hold their shape nicely. Frozen spinach or anything else in a square block also very good.Do NOT use Dole frozen fruit because it will all blob together in a big fruity unit of squish and then re-freeze as one big block. Do not use any open packages.

Anyway. THE GLAMOROUS LIFE OF A WRITER, eh?

I got AC now.

I want to pimp some of my friend's books, because they are super fab writers. Sarah Mlynowski's GImme A Call is a perfect summer read and SOOOOOO funny. Girl finds out her cell phone can call her younger self and she calls that younger self and tells her NOT TO MAKE ALL THOSE CRAP MISTAKES. Only the younger self won't really listen. and Ally Carter's Only the Good Spy Young hit the NYTimes bestseller list last week. I haven't read it yet but I am going to read it ASAP. Is more girls at spy school with romance and action and thrills a minute. andJennifer Lynn Barnes' Raised By Wolves is about a girl raised by a werewolf pack. Melissa Marr called it "quite simply, the most compelling YA werewolf book out there." andMelissa Kantor's Girlfriend Material is fresh out in paperback. She's awesomely funny and touching, and this book is all summer romance on Cape Cod.

So now you know what to read on vacation. You can thank me later.

In other news, I am still trying to figure out what new book to write for teenagers. I just got a DREAM illustrator for my next younger kid chapter book though I can't tell you who he is yet. I just ate several spoonfulls of plasticy jarred vanilla frosting and wish I hadn't touched the stuff. I tried those J. Crew pants they say are flattering on everyone and they looked very dumpy on me, leading me to suspect I am just too old or too short for pants above the ankle. In any case, they are going back.

I think that's all you need to know.

xo

E

PS I deny all connections between eating spoonfulls of nasty plastic frosting and looking dumpy in those pants. They were UNFLATTERING PANTS. I mean, I still regret the frosting, but it was the pants' fault.

About the Amazon Links

The thumbnail images of books and albums on this site connect you to Amazon.com -- but that's because Amazon and my web service provider have a partnership, so it's extremely easy to put images on my site.However, I don't get any kind of kickback if you buy any of these items and I don't endorse any particular bookstore over any other.

Plug in your email and I will send you information on appearances, contests, new books etc. a couple times a year. Your information is confidential.